Texas STAAR → SST Transition (2027-28) — What Parents and Students Need to Know

Texas is in the middle of the most significant change to its statewide assessment system in over a decade. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) — the testing system Texas families have lived with since 2012 — is being phased out by December 2027 and replaced by a new system called the Student Success Tool (SST) beginning the 2027-28 school year. This guide explains exactly what is changing, what is confirmed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), what details remain undecided, and how this affects accelerated students, Credit by Examination (CBE) candidates, and the ~5.5 million Texas students currently in K-12.

This is an independent guide. Texas CBE™ is not affiliated with TEA, UTHS Texas Tech, or any Texas school district. The SST system is still being finalized, and rule details may change — confirm with TEA's official publications before relying on any specific detail.

The 30-second summary

• Last STAAR Spring administration (grades 3-8): Spring 2027 (April 5 - April 30, 2027).
• Last STAAR End-of-Course (EOC) administration: December 2027.
• SST stand-alone field test: February 1-5, 2027 (preview of the new system; does not affect grades).
• SST goes live: 2027-28 school year (fall 2027).
• Driver: Texas HB 4 (88th Legislature, 2023) mandated the STAAR redesign and shift to a shorter, more frequent assessment approach.
• CBE (Credit by Examination): unchanged by the transition — TEC §28.023 (free district CBE) and TEC §74.24 (UTHS-Texas Tech paid CBE) continue under separate statutes.

Why is this happening?

The STAAR system has been the target of years of public, parental, and legislative criticism — too long, too high-stakes, too narrow, and too disruptive to instructional time. In 2023, the 88th Texas Legislature passed House Bill 4 (HB 4), which directed TEA to fundamentally redesign the state assessment system. The result is the Student Success Tool (SST), designed around shorter, more frequent assessments that aim to give teachers and parents actionable information during the year rather than a single end-of-year score.

The redesign reflects national trends in K-12 assessment: states like New York are phasing out Regents-as-graduation-requirement (by 2027-28), Florida replaced FSA with FAST (2022-23, with progress monitoring), and California has moved further from high-stakes end-of-year testing. Texas is part of that broader shift.

What's been officially confirmed by TEA

What we know about the SST format (general direction, not specifics)

Based on the HB 4 legislative direction and TEA's communications to date, the SST appears to be designed around:

• Shorter individual assessments — not one long end-of-year test.
• More frequent progress monitoring — possibly quarterly or trimester-based, similar to Florida's PM1/PM2/PM3 approach.
• Faster turnaround on results so teachers can act on data during the school year.
• Continued coverage of the same subjects STAAR currently tests: math, reading, science, social studies in grades 3-8, plus the EOC subjects (Algebra I, English I, English II, Biology, U.S. History) for high school.

The specific format, length, and scoring of SST has not yet been finalized publicly. TEA is expected to publish substantial guidance in late 2026 and early 2027 as the system rolls out.

What this means for the 2026-27 school year (right now)

For families with students currently in school — nothing about 2026-27 changes. STAAR continues normally:

• Fall 2026 STAAR EOC: Nov 30 - Dec 11, 2026 (already completed).
• Spring 2027 STAAR EOC + grades 3-8: April 5 - April 30, 2027.
• Summer 2027 STAAR EOC retake: June 14 - June 25, 2027.
• December 2027 STAAR EOC: the final administration.

STAAR passing standards (Approaches / Meets / Masters) and EOC graduation requirements remain in force through the December 2027 administration. The Individual Graduation Committee (IGC) pathway under TEC §28.0258 also remains available for students who fail up to 2 of 5 EOCs.

What this means for current 8th graders (Class of 2031)

Students currently in 8th grade who plan to be in 9th grade for 2027-28 — these are the first cohort to start high school under SST. They will:

• Take whatever the SST equivalent of EOCs ends up being for Algebra I, Biology, U.S. History, etc.
• Likely see more frequent, shorter assessments rather than one long end-of-year EOC.
• Be governed by graduation requirements that TEA will publish during their high school career.

Practical takeaway: 8th graders who pass CBE Algebra 1 this year (2026-27) earn the Algebra 1 credit without ever needing to take STAAR Algebra 1 EOC or its SST equivalent. CBE is unaffected by the transition and offers a cleaner path for accelerated students.

What this means for current 11th graders (Class of 2027)

Class of 2027 students are essentially the last STAAR-only cohort for graduation. They:

• Have already taken or are about to take their EOCs under the current STAAR system.
• Must pass (or use IGC alternative) under STAAR rules — those rules don't change between now and their graduation.
• Have Summer 2027 (Jun 14-25) and December 2027 retake windows available if needed.

What this means for current 9th and 10th graders

This is the transitional cohort. Students currently in 9th-10th grade may:

• Take some EOCs under STAAR (2026-27 school year) and others under SST (2027-28 onward).
• See graduation-credit accounting that mixes both systems.

TEA has not yet published a detailed transition rule for this mixed cohort. Expect guidance during the 2026-27 school year.

What does NOT change in the transition

What about the STAAR scores my child already earned?

Earned STAAR EOC scores are permanent. A student who passed STAAR Algebra 1 EOC in (say) Spring 2025 has met that graduation requirement permanently — the December 2027 STAAR sunset and the move to SST in 2027-28 do not retroactively invalidate or change any score earned under the current STAAR system.

Likewise, earned CBE credits (whether via TEC §28.023 free district CBE or TEC §74.24 UTHS Texas Tech paid CBE) are permanent course credits on the transcript — they don't depend on STAAR or SST.

How our practice fits during and after the transition

Texas CBE™ is built around TEKS (the underlying content standards), not the specific test format. The same math content tested by STAAR Algebra 1 EOC is the same math content covered by:

• SST Algebra 1 (in 2027-28 and beyond — once specifics are public, we update our format guidance, but TEKS coverage stays the same).
• CBE Algebra 1 (both §28.023 free district and §74.24 UTHS paid).
• SAT Math (Digital SAT, post-2024 format).

This means a student preparing with our 500+ Algebra 1 practice questions for STAAR EOC in Spring 2027 is also preparing for CBE, SAT Math, and (largely) SST when it goes live in 2027-28. Content overlap is much higher than format differences.

Getting ahead of the STAAR-to-SST transition? Try our Algebra 1 free sample — no signup, no payment. TEKS-aligned questions that cover STAAR EOC, SST (when published), and CBE prep with one bank. Other subjects: Geometry, Algebra 2, Biology, Chemistry, U.S. History, SAT Math.

Related guides

• Texas STAAR 2026-2027 Testing Calendar — full schedule
• STAAR Algebra 1 EOC Retake 2027 — Summer + December + IGC pathway

Sources

• Texas Education Agency — 2026-2027 Student Assessment Testing Calendar (April 2026 PDF).
• Texas Education Agency — School Year 2027-28 Student Assessment Testing Calendar correspondence.
• Texas Legislature — HB 4 (88th Legislature, 2023) — STAAR redesign legislation.
• Texas Education Agency — Student Assessment program.

This is an independent guide. Texas CBE™ is not affiliated with TEA. The SST system is still being finalized, and rule details may change — verify with TEA's official publications before relying on specifics.